Rihanna turned up at Paris Fashion Week in March wearing a black pleather jacket that was hyperbolic in form, so protective with padding that it made her bodyguard seem kind of superfluous. Was it Comme des Garçons? Rick Owens? Raf Simons for Dior? No, no and no. The look was from Melitta Baumeister, a 28-year-old German designer who has gotten serious attention in New York since showing her debut women’s wear collection earlier this year at the VFiles Made Fashion show. “Garments have been made the same way for such a long time,” says Baumeister, who graduated from the M.F.A. program in fashion design at Parsons last year. “I’m interested in magic, in new ways of making common shapes.” Her architectural designs contain several pieces that look like Calvin Klein classics bred with Eva Hild’s ceramic sculptures, but are actually cast in pure white single-ply silicone from molds of existing knit sweaters and tank tops. In an age of anxiety over the loss of craftsmanship and couture techniques, Baumeister shrugs: “I am keeping the numbers small to be more exclusive, but in truth, I embrace the ease of reproduction.”

A version of this article appears in print on 08/24/2014, on page M2118 of the NewYork edition with the headline: A New Line.